Photo of Assault Rifle Critic, Joe Manchin Shooting an Assault Rifle

Washington DC – -(Ammoland.com)- When former Gov. and current Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) changed positions on the assault weapons ban post-Connecticut school shooting, he justified the change by saying, “I don’t know anyone that needs 30 rounds in a clip to go hunting.”

He also said that he doesn’t know “anyone in the sporting or hunting arena that goes out with an assault rifle.”

They’re good pictures. The problem is, they’re pictures of hypocrite — pictures of yet another politician who’s rule appears to be “do as I say, not as I do.”

Here are some other quick points:

Firstly, Manchin makes a massive error in judging guns and gun-accessories based on their relation to hunting. Our Founding Fathers did not seek to protect the right to keep and bear arms so we could hunt. Rather, they put the 2nd Amendment in place to shield our right to have and use firearms so we could defend our lives and our property, and so we could repel a tyranny. To reduce 2nd Amendment rights to hunting purposes is as dangerous as it is baseless.

Secondly, as I said during a guest spot on America’s Radio News Network on Monday, a 30 round clip is actually a very viable clip for home defense. To understand this, just imagine three armed men kicking in the front door of your house while you’re eating dinner with your family. All three are armed with guns that hold 7 to 10 rounds apiece, so you’re up against 21 to 30 rounds. At that point, which clip do you want in your AR-15? A 10 round, a 20, or a 30?

This isn’t rocket science, it’s freedom.

About:
AWR Hawkins writes for all the BIG sites, for Pajamas Media, for RedCounty.com, for Townhall.com and now AmmoLand Shooting Sports News.

His southern drawl is frequently heard discussing his take on current events on radio shows like America’s Morning News, the G. Gordon Liddy Show, the Ken Pittman Show, and the NRA’s Cam & Company, among others. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal (summer 2010), and he holds a PhD in military history from Texas Tech University.

If you have questions or comments, email him at awr@awrhawkins.com. You can find him on facebook at www.facebook.com/awr.hawkins.

Senator Joe Manchin (D) West Virginia
If you live in West Virginia or know someone who does maybe you and your West Virginian friends should contact him. He’s on the record for supporting a new firearms ban. He said this recently on MSNBC:

“I’m a proud outdoors-man and huntsman, like many Americans, and I like shooting, but this doesn’t make sense,” Manchin said. “I don’t know anyone in the sporting and hunting arena who goes out with an assault rifle; I don’t know anyone who needs 30 rounds in the clip to go hunting.”

I guess he forgot the day he went out and shot this gun. Sure made a lot of sense that day I guess. Here’s a great picture of him shooting one of the very rifles and using one of the very magazines he is now supporting to ban. Also, notice this is an SBR (short barreled rifle) regulated under NFA. From the picture it looks full auto as well. Look closely and you can see three pieces of brass in the air in close succession. Wonder of ole Joe has one of these in his gun safe? HYPOCRITE!

All you guys that complain about the clip vs. magazine terminology need to relax a bit. The term clip is commonly used to describe a firearm magazine, especially in newspapers, movies, and on television. Because of this usage, the Merriam-Webster dictionary now defines a clip as “a device to hold cartridges for charging the magazines of some rifles; also :a magazine from which ammunition is fed into the chamber of a firearm”. It is NOT the big issue though it does show some ignorance of firearms.

Also about Senator shooting an AR, realistically, how can he make any kind of informed decision on something he has never tried?

Looks like a variation of the M4 carbine to me. I guess it’s possible it is a semi auto AR15 and he’s just that fast, but as Colin said, with three visible cases in the air, it is probably either full auto or at least burst capable. Neither of which are normal on AR15’s. So for once the description as an assault rifle is accurate. I’m going to guess this one belongs to a law enforcement agency. it looks like one the overpriced packages often marketed to them.

+1 to the 2nd not being about hunting or other “sporting” uses. It’s not polite, but it is reality. The day to day uses of firearms are not what the 2nd is about and when gun grabbers try to make that argument they just expose their true ignorance. I do know a lot of folks who hunt with AR’s though, particularly predator control and hog hunting.

I wonder why Any Senator needs a gun or magazine like That, when he wants to Ban them.
That’s right, he is like Dianne Feinstein, thinks he should be able to have what the common people can’t be trusted with. I’m so tired of these political Hacks, and the attempts to violate our rights.

Actually, besides being a hypocrite, he’s full of it. An AR-15 being a .22 caliber, would be great for hunting squirrel. A 30 round magazine would be ideal too, since the little bastards are so small and move fast. Especially if there’s more than one 😉

His change of heart is so…politician. Reminds me of that line in “Rising Sun” with Wesley Snipes where the politician that was against a Japanese purchase of a company, was invited to a party and given lavish gifts and then he changes his mind on the subject. His justification for his change of mind as he put it:”It’s a modification to my previous decision”. Damn politicians always sticking their fingers in the air to see which way the political winds are blowing.

Terms are important. The anti gun group created the term high capacity magazines to talk about 30 round magazines. However, the AR-15 was designed with 30 round magazines. 20 & 10 round magazines would be low capacity, 30 would be standard and above thirty would be high capacity.

The anti gun crowd did the same to semi-automatic firearms. Semi-automatic firearms are not assault weapons. Weapons of high fire rates such as select fire weapons that can shoot three round burst or fully automatic are assault weapons.

Terms are important as that is how we class things legally. So get your terms corrected or lose your rights.

Also frank it is a magazine. Dictionaries cater to the public. Meaning if the misinformed say it enough it becomes reality. So while you may laugh at a river of fools your high tolerance for them can get you swept up in the current.

We all know too well this story. It is beaten into us day after day and to no end. My question is simple….Instead of just talking about it, when the hell are WE going to do something about it? Do all of you not get tired of hearing and talking about the same crap handed to us in the form of tyranny?